Safety cut-off device for gas service



June 3 .1. A. SICKELS I 1,912,793

SAFETY CUT-OFF DEVICE FOR GAS SERVICE Filed May 51, 1930 I N VEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

. communicates with any suitable gas supply notshown, and 11 is acontrol valve for the supply pipe to which is attached a distrib-Patented June 6, 1933 :rosnrrr n. sroxELsoF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI SAFETYGUT-OFF DEVICE FOR GAS SERVICE Application filed May 31, 1930. SerialNo. 458,130.

. This invention relates to safety cut oif devicefor gas servicejand hasfor its principal object the provision of a thermostatic bar controlledby a flame supplied with gas from the distributing pipe which controlsa-switch of an electric circuit by means of which a control valveisclosed when the thermostatic baricools due tothe cutting offofthesupply of gas to the flam' l A further object of the presentinvention is the provision of a novel means for maintaining the controlvalve in the open position i when the electric circuit is maintainedopen due to the action of aflame heating a thermostatic bar.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety cutoff devicethat may be positioned remote 'from the gas burner orthe control valveis controlled.

Like reference characters designate slmllar service device whichconsumes thegas.

With these general ob1ects n V ew as well as minor objects which Wlllappeardurlng the course of the detailedspecification, reference will nowbe madeto the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of agaslserviceequipped with a safety cut ofi device embodying thisinvention;

Fig, 2 is a plan view of. the parts shown -li 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line III- 111 of Fig. 2;g e

. Fig. 4: is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line IV- IV of Fig.2;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit by means of whichthe supply parts throughout the several views and the numeral 10designates a supply pipe which utlng pipe 12. This distributingipipeconducts the gas to the burner 13 or' any other service device where thegas is consumed.

Whenever the valve 11 is in the open position the distributing pipe willbefilled with gas as .long as the flow of gas in the supply pipe is notinterrupted. Should the supply of gas in thesupply pipe be cut oifforany reason and the burner not supplied with gas, the flame of theburner would be extinguished and then if the supply of gas is againcontinued there would be danger of the escape of gas fromthe burner.This invention provides for means whereby the control valvell will beclosed whenever the supply of gas to the distributing pipe isinterrupted; To effect this cutting oft of the control valve athermostatic bar 1 14 is carried on a bar 15 which isadjustably mountedat 9 on a bracket 16 which in turn clampingly engages the distributingpipe 12, Bracket 16 is secured to the distributing pipe by means of abolt 17 which may be loosened 5 so that 16 can be rotatablyl orlongitudinally adjusted thereon. The thermostatic bar 14 is shown insubstantially a U-shape with its outer end normally contacting aterminal member 18 which'is carried by and insulated from the bar 15 bymeans of insulating members 45 and 46. Positioned adjacent thermostaticbar 14 is a perforation 19 in the distributing pipe 12 which is ofsuflicient size to permit the escape of gas therefrom so that 7 whenlighted it will raise the temperature of the thermostatic barsufiiciently to cause the .sameto be distorted so that its contact withthe terminall8 will be broken. It is apparent thatother types ofthermostatic controls might be usedin place of the bar.

. Control valve 11 consists of a body member 20 having an inletop'ening21 which communicates with the supply pipe 10 and an outlet opening 22which connects with the distributing pipe 12. A. valve seat 23 ispositioned in 20 intermediate 21 and 23 j and is provided with a valve24; which is adapted to cooperate therewithto control the How ofgas.from said supply pipe to' 0 said distributing pipe. Valve24 is providedwith a slidably mounted valve stem 25 which is rigidly attached theretoandextends without the body member 20. An

.externally.threaded sleeve 26 fits over the' valve stem 25 and isthreaded into body 7 member 20 at 27. To secure said sleeve againstaccidental movement relative to 20, alock nut 28 is provided.Intermediate thelower end ofsleeve 26 and the upper side of valve 24 isinterposed a compres sion spring 29 which serves to normally maintainsaid valve in the closed position.

To maintain the valve 24 in the operative open position a nut 30 havingoppositely disposed ears 31 is threaded onto the outer end of stem 25and secured against accidental displacement by means of lock nut 32. AU-shaped member 33 having eyelets 34 at its opened ends engages ears 3-1and extends downwardly at an angle to stem 25 so that the closed endthereof rests against the upper side of a horizontally disposed lever 35which is pivotally mounted at 36 to a stationary plate 37 carried bybody member 20. A lip 38 is formed intergral with lever 35 and serves asan abutment for 33 so that as the lever 35 is moved to the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2', 33 will securely hold the valve in the openposition against the action of thespring 29. Catch 40, pivoted as at 41,has a notch 42 formed therein to engage upturned flange 43 on lever 35when the valve parts are holding the valve 11 in open position. Coil 44,being positioned as shown in Fig. 2, causes catch 40 to release lever 35when coil 44 is energized, whereby member 33 swings out and permitsspring 29 to move stein 25 longitudinally to cut off the flow of gasthrough pipes 10 and 12. A stop 39 positioned on plate 37 serves tolimit the out ward movement of lever 35 but will not prevent the properclosing of the valve 24.

Positioned on plate 37 is a signal light 47 and a switch 48 which willbe further described.

Referring to Fig. 5, which shows a diagrammatic view of the electriccircuit, 49 and 50 are the ordinary supply wires connected with asuitable electrical source not shown. A wire 51 connects wire 49 withthermostatic bar 14 and the wire 52 having a switch 48 connects the wire50 with the signal light 47. ire 53 connects the opposite side of light47 with coil 44 while the opposite side of coil 44 is connected withterminal 18 by means of wire 54. The flame F from distributing pipe 12produces a suflicient heat to distort themostatic bar 14, thus causing agap between said thermo-' static bar and terminal 18 to open thecircuit. WVhen the flame F is extinguished due to the cutting off of thesupply of gas to distributing pipe 12, 14'Will move downwardly and closethe circuit. It will be noted that all of the electrical appliances inthis circuit are in series, therefore when the circuit is closed thelight 47 will be illuminated and the coil 44 will'be energized, therebyreleasing lever 35 and permitting the spring 29 to close valve 24 sothat, should the gas again enterthe supply pipe 10, no gas could passinto the distributing pipe 12.

It is apparent that a small burner of some special construction might beprovided to communicate with perforation 19 and furnish the flame toheat the thermostatic control.

I do not wish to limit this invention to the structure shown anddescribed as many modifications might be made within the scope of theappended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

hat I claim is:

1. In a cut-off device for gas service a supply pipe, a distributingpipe, a vertically reciprocating control valve operable to regulate theflow of gas from said supply pipe to said distributing pipe, a burnercommunicating with said distributing pipe,,an auxiliary burner remotelypositioned relative to said first named burner communicating with saiddistributing pipe, a thermostat responsive to the heat of said auxiliaryburner, means for releasably holding said control valve in the openposition mounted for independent swinging movement on the upper end ofsaid valve, and electrically controlled means controlled by saidthermostat operable to release said releasable holding means to permitthe closing of said control valve when the flow of gas in saiddistributing pipe is interruptedand said auxiliary burner no longerheats said thermostat.

2. In a cut-off "for gas service, a supply pipe, a distributing pipe, aburner communicating with said distributing pipe, and a control valveinterconnecting said supply pipe and the distributing pipe, said controlvalve being operable to control the flow of ing pipe and comprising avertically reciprocating stein, a spring tending to maintain the valveclosed, a member swingably mounted at its one end to said stem, areleasable lever pivotally supported for horizontal movement toward andfrom said stem, said lever engaging the free end of said swingablemember to hold the control valve open an auxiliary burner incommunication with said distributing pipe, and thermostatically operatedmeans to releasably holdthe said lever in such position responsive tothe heat of said auxiliary burner in eluding a catch and means torelease said catch when the said thermostat is in the predeterminedposition.

3. In a cut-off for gas service, a supply pipe, a distributing pipe, amain burner and an auxiliary burner in communication with said:distributing pipe, a thermostatic switch responsive to the heat of saidauxiliary burner, an electromagnetic coil energized by the closing ofsaid switch, and a control valve interconnecting said supply pipe anddistributing pipe comprising a vertically disposed, longitudinallyreciprocating valve stem, a spring to urge said valve stem toward closedposition, a depending member swingably mounted at its one end to saidstem, a releasable lever pivotally supported for horizontal movementtoward and from said stem to engage the free end of said dependingmember, and a catch movable by said coil to release said lever fromeffective engagement with said depending member when saidthermostatically controlled switch is closed. r

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

JOSEPH A. SIOKELS.

